There’s no point revisiting the hit that took Patrik Laine out the game on Saturday against Buffalo. If you thought it was dirty, go look again and again it wasn’t. Half a second later though and yeah, it’s very dirty.
Don’t look at Scheifele and question his passing, it’s not his job to know if Laine is watching his lane and positioning. Be thankful that Laine was walking after the game, checking his phone as Winnipeg Free Press reporter Jeff Hamilton tweeted video of yesterday. Also be thankful that he is under care and was attending practice as a spectator yesterday.
This is not something to get worked up over, worry about his health and expect the team to proceed with caution and hope that he makes a full and speedy recovery. I expect he will be playing sooner than we think.
If you want to get outraged, look at the team and coach. Who’s asking them about how they blow a 3-1 lead against a brutal Sabres team, as they enter the third period?
With chaos ensuing on the ice and no real understanding of how to stop it Maurice could have called a time out and used that supposedly precious commodity to settle his young troops and get them sorted out. Instead he allowed them to work through it and boom they were down 4-3 within 5 minutes. Again this loss goes back to the coaching decisions that many are looking at with greater frequency this season.
So what’s the answer?
As the Jets host two home games before heading back out onto the road, against Calgary tonight and Montreal on Wednesday. In the most logical of moves Drew Stafford has been moved up to play with Ehlers and Scheifele and Chris Thorburn slots back in to the roster.
Before you put your hands to your head and make a scrunchy face Jets fans this is a sign of progression. In past years Thorburn would have been moved up to the second line and god knows what, or who, would have been brought in to play in the bottom.
That being said there’s a positive here, more ice-time and better team mates for Stafford as fans hope he increases his trade value. To fill out the roster Brandon Tanev has been recalled by the Jets today. This would mean that Laine is expected to be out longer than I suggested above perhaps?
Tanev has had his ups and downs while with the Jets this year but provides a bit of speed that may be lost with having both Stafford and Thorburn in the lineup- swap one out (Thorburn) and then see what happens.
Tonight against Calgary marks the return of former Jets Michael Frolik who happened to score a very nice break away goal against Vancouver on Saturday night. The Flames hold the last wild card spot in the west and again are another opponent the Jets have to look as a peer in terms of talent and competition. If that is the case is this the feisty, ‘take on all comers’ team that beat the Blackhawks or the return home from road trip to bad weather ‘passive hosts’ that have also showed up, like the games against Columbus and the Islanders?
This team has weathered injuries, but this one to Laine is a bit different at least from a psychological effect. He was a rookie, young, and talented and in some ways a player who others centred around. Taking him out of the line-up in this way can have some effects to the psyche of the team. It’s moments like these that the idea of intangibles or the mental factor of the game comes into play.
Weathering injuries is one thing, that comes with organizational depth, coaching and systems and perhaps some luck. Taking out a centre piece player on any team in such a disturbing fashion can mess with the mind and that’s probably the biggest question about the Jets right now, at least in my opinion.
Why?
Historically this has not been a tough group when it comes the mental side of the game. We’ve seen it for years and while hard to quantify something like resilience it can be measured in mistakes, miscues and perhaps that wonderful trait called apathy. Certainly you can see that last one within the fan base some times.
How long Laine is out matters but not as much is what the team does just as it appears they were building some momentum, again only to be snuffed out. Stand back and watch right now, make your notes and then see where this leads as right now it’s anyone’s guess.